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Incoming request for secure communication

Key verification initiated

Identity verified: THAUCON.CENTRAL.INTELLIGENCE.QUICKSILVER

Quantum-secure channel established

Initiating communication

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QUICKSILVER: I was informed of the encounter with the Liar mage. I hope you are fine?

CERICAL: I’m in good health. But I failed to resist xir compulsion.

QUICKSILVER: That’s no failure. No non-mage can resist a powerful Liar. At best, precautions can be taken to prevent the need from arising.

CERICAL: I’m aware. I should have insisted more on wearing combat armor. I’m sorry.

QUICKSILVER: You’ve no reason to apologize to me.

From an intelligence standpoint, the encounter was fruitful. And you proved your capability by suspecting xem. Failing to apprehend the mage is just a tactical problem. Not a matter of Intelligence.

CERICAL: How was the encounter fruitful?

QUICKSILVER: We know xe’s trying to get a relic from the Vault.

CERICAL: Xe returned it, though. Is it possible that xe only needed to hold it for a while? Maybe to study it? But then why take it out of the vault at all?

QUICKSILVER: We have reason to believe the relic xe returned was not xir target at all. It was likely a decoy.

CERICAL: But nothing else was stolen. Or so the university claims.

QUICKSILVER: You’re correct, both in raising the objection, and remarking its limitation. The University could be wrong, or lying, about this.

This ties in with your previous report. The theta signal detected in the University. We managed to make some discreet inquiries, and while we’re not yet sure, exactly, how that signature became whitelisted, it seems very likely its owner is not a Council mage.

The rot in Rakavdon is worse than we assumed. Agents from the Factions act under the light of the day, and our own systems read them as friendly.

I grimace. So, the mage we detected at the University is not a Council operative. Just how many magical factions have their agents, or infiltrators, in Rakavdon?

But maybe that isn’t even the important question.

It’s time to play the spy game, and hope Quicksilver won’t laugh me off.

CERICAL: Why are the factions so interested in this city? I received information, from unusual channels, indicating that the Syndicates are looking for something of enormous importance. The Faceless are fighting them, and possibly looking for the same thing. You told me of a powerful mage in Rakavdon. The Lady in White is probing the city at least.

What do they want? Are those things connected?

QUICKSILVER: The Lady in White? Where do you get that from?

My lips curve in a smile.

CERICAL: I have my own sources.

For long seconds, Quicksilver doesn’t answer. Did I make a mistake? Do I sound like a girl babbling about things she doesn’t understand?

Quicksilver recruited me as an informant, after all, not an analyst. But I’m more and more convinced they want something more from me - they’re trying to recruit me. So I might as well show my work, as they like to say.

QUICKSILVER: You’re making an important claim. I won’t ask for your sources, but I need to know what kind of evidence you have, and how reliable it is.

CERICAL: Indirect evidence. My source is reliable, but this is second-hand information from the Faceless Army. Apparently, one of their operatives was very concerned about the presence of the Lady’s agents.

Another, longer pause.

QUICKSILVER: Well, that we already knew. Still, your information is correct, and it’s remarkable that you found it.

I’m favorably impressed by your work so far. As soon as the current crisis abates, we shall discuss your career prospects.

My heart beats faster, even if I feel a bit of a fraud - my super secret source is my girlfriend. But then again, romance is a time-tested strategy to obtain informants.

Anyway, if Quicksilver is impressed by me, maybe I can squeeze something out of them.

CERICAL: The current crisis?

There was the attack in Valanes, of course. But the way they frame it, it sounds like something ongoing.

Not that it truly surprises me. Not after what Za Ruik and Althea said.

QUICKSILVER: Of course I don’t need to tell you about it. You have your sources, right? So, give me your assessment of the current crisis.

Lady of Pains, I don’t even get if they’re angry, or mocking, or entirely serious. I’d pay good money for hearing Quicksilver’s tone.

Anyway, what is sure is that they like tests. And maybe, this test isn’t just for their amusement. It might well be my first exam.

Fortunately, I thought a lot about this.

CERICAL: Needless to say, I have limited information and no access to Intelligence channels. My assessment would involve a great deal of guesswork, and thus be unreliable.

QUICKSILVER: I’m aware of your situation. Do your best.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

CERICAL: The current emergency is a conflict between multiple magical factions, mainly the newly formed Syndicate Cartel and the Faceless Army. The latter fears involvement from the White Lady, the former has a long-standing enmity with the Hidden Schools, so every major magical faction might be involved, except hopefully for the Guardians of the Broken Moon. All parts opportunistically exploit local groups - like the non-magical gangs in Rakavdon, or the rogue Liar I recently encountered.

The conflict revolves around Precursor sites, and probably around relics. The magical factions might be seeking a specific relic, or more likely, multiple ones - maybe a set of relics which can be combined, or possibly they need many relics of a specific category.

The obvious, immediate risk is more fighting at relic sites. Including Rakavdon - whatever the rogue Liar actually wanted from the Vault, it’s likely xe didn’t get it, since xe was scanned on the way out. I suspect xe was only testing the Vault’s security.

The factions are clearly willing to fight to obtain these relics, and as Valanes has shown, they’re willing to use an enormous amount of violence. The protection and surveillance of relic sites all over Karesia should be taken much, much more seriously.

But the most concerning threat is whatever the Syndicates, and possibly the Faceless, are after. I lack the information to speculate about it, even if circumstantial evidence hints at something they consider a key. Though the function of that key remains unknown to me.

I'm satisfied at how I delivered my speculations, but this was mostly a shot in the dark. If Quicksilver asks, I’ll admit how thin my evidence is - cryptic words from an Else-Touched Seer. I won’t risk passing up bad information to look more knowledgeable. But what’s the harm in mentioning it?

QUICKSILVER: Major Orner made a grave disservice to the Agency in expelling you from Intelligence. This is… quite impressive.

Maybe they’re stroking my ego to get me to talk. Maybe they’d have said the same if I had gone on an insane rant. Maybe that’s what I did.

And yet, it’s like a weight slides off my shoulder.

I knew Major Orner booted me out of spite, not because of my incompetence.

But hearing an Intelligence Officer say I’m worthy of being in Intelligence, and that I'm not just a child playing at being a spy, quiets the voice in my head whispering maybe I wasn’t cut for it. Almost completely.

QUICKSILVER: I have, of course, much more information about the current situation. But your assessment is succinct and overall correct.

There are some more events you should take into consideration: First: Else-storms are raging all across Refuge. In the last three days, five different Else-Storms, of moderate but increasing intensity, have been reported across Karesia, one of them in Rakavdon. Else-Storms of this intensity can be expected once in a decade. Having five at once is something that, previously, happened exclusively during Mage Revolts, or major conflicts between the Factions.

Second: The Hidden Schools are preparing for such a conflict. The Blue Haven recalled most of its operative to the Haven itself, as it does during times of instability. A low, but significant number of demons has been trickling to the Vermillion Fortress. And after decades of almost complete inactivity, or stealth, the Black Library operatives were spotted in three different Karesian cities in the last week.

CERICAL: So what are they fighting over? If it's something they could find in Rakavdon, I must know. I must try to stop whatever is coming.

A long silence. This is the first time, in our communications, that Quicksilver seems to think a lot before answering.

QUICKSILVER: The official ThauCon position is that the Syndicates are conducting random terror attacks. The prevailing Intelligence position is that the Syndicates are stocking up with relics for a major offensive to consolidate their power.

We disagree. My group within Intelligence thinks our colleagues delude themselves, because they want to believe this is just one more power struggle.

CERICAL: And what do you think?

QUICKSILVER: That isn’t something I would share with an informant.

CERICAL: You said yourself that you’re considering me for a career in Intelligence.

QUICKSILVER: And I don’t doubt your skills. The issue, Private Cerical, is that information can be dangerous. Some of our enemies could exploit it, if they knew what we suspected. Some could put our suspicions to terrible use. So, where do your loyalties lie?

CERICAL: I’m loyal to the Agency.

QUICKSILVER: I don’t doubt that, either. But the Agency is many things. So, let me ask you a question. What do *you* stand for?

My night clothes are drenched in sweat, my hands shake. I’m so tense I could burst, but at least it’s not the unbearable pressure that comes before I have a crisis - this is something I was prepared for. Something, in a way, that I wanted.

We couldn’t trade harmless information forever. Quicksilver must tell me, at some point, who they represent, and what they stand for.

As for me - what do I stand for?

I stand against the Dark Power, now and always, I almost say.

It would have been true, such a short time ago. But can I still claim that, in complete honesty, and look Althea in the eyes?

CERICAL: I stand against all those who’d use magic to hurt others. And I’ll do whatever is necessary to reclaim the Moon and mend the sky.

Another pause, so long I wonder if Quicksilver fell asleep and left the channel open.

QUICKSILVER: That's enough - for now.

Understand that what I’m telling you is confidential. Most Intelligence Officers don’t have access to this information. Do not even consider sharing this with your teammates.

I am, effectively - and unofficially - granting you a Fourth-tier clearance, on the basis that you’re a field agent who might need this knowledge during operations of critical importance.

Are you willing to swear that you won’t, under any circumstance, divulge what I’m going to tell you now?

CERICAL: I swear I won’t divulge the information you’re giving me, except if commanded to do so by a lawful inquiry commission or by a court-martial. I might disclose parts of the information immediately relevant to the situation at hand to my field commander, if absolutely necessary to act appropriately in the field.

I swear this by the Lady of Pains, may she bind my soul with burning iron for ten thousand years, should I break this oath.

QUICKSILVER: Holy fuck the last part wasn’t needed, can’t you just swear by the Lord of Seas?

CERICAL: I don’t see the point of doing things halfway.

QUICKSILVER: Know that you’ll suffer more mundane, but equally horrific consequences by my hand, if what I’m going to say reaches our enemies because of you.

Anyway, there’s no point doing things halfway, as you say. I decided you can be trusted with this information.

The Syndicates aren’t seeking a set of relics. They’re interested only in a specific one. The reason they’re spreading their forces is that, apparently, they’re not sure where, of even what, it is. We don’t know where their information comes from, or how it is structured, but it seems they have a list of possible relics, and need to check them one by one.

There might be… some further complications. Our understanding is that they had found what they were looking for, in Valanes. But the Faceless Army stole and destroyed it. The Syndicates, however, are still searching, and don’t seem to consider it a major setback.

As for what the relic is - we aren’t entirely sure. But you are right, they refer to it as a key. Some of my colleagues believe it’s connected to Lord Keidesek. Possibly one of the keys that opened the way to Selenopolis - though, according to Keidesek himself, they were more like passwords, not keys.

The Unmaker, however, held that there were three keys to Selenopolis.

CERICAL: A… key to Selenopolis? I mean, isn’t the way open now? The Endless Stairwell still works, except anyone who steps through it would have to fight the Exiled.

QUICKSILVER: The nature of the item they’re looking for doesn’t really matter for your job. What matters to us is that the Syndicates are extremely determined to find a set of relics, but they care about only one of those. If Korentis hasn’t found what they wanted, they’ll try again, and again.

That said… just for the sake of speculation. Yes, the way to Selenopolis is open.

But what else could such a key open?